Kevin P O'Connor, AM was the full-time President of the Administrative Decisions Tribunal of New South Wales throughout its existence from 1998 to 2013. He was a Judge of the District Court during that period, and retired from that office in April 2014. In addition, he headed the Commercial Tribunal of NSW between 1997 and 1999 and the Fair Trading Tribunal of NSW between 1999 and 2002.

Kevin is available to undertake mediations and arbitrations in all types of private law disputes, including contractual and consumer disputes, and tort and insurance litigation. He has substantial experience in dealing with regulatory and governmental disputes, citizen-government disputes, and discrimination, especially in the workplace.

He has 25 years’ experience sitting in Tribunals. His body of published decisions is substantial and crosses diverse fields. It may be retrieved from the Caselaw NSW website, AUSTLII and the specialist reporters (in the case of equal opportunity, retail leases and revenue law).

He has held a number of senior positions in Commonwealth and State public sector agencies, and has a close understanding of Parliamentary, legislative and government decision making processes. He has been a member of Australian delegations to the United Nations, and for six years from 2005-2011 served as the deputy chairperson of Interpol’s Commission for the Control of Files, its peak data protection body responsible for audit, oversight and complaints-handling, based in Lyon, France.

Prior to his appointment as a tribunal president in 1997, Kevin was the inaugural Commonwealth Privacy Commissioner for a term of eight years (1988-1996). During that time he was also, ex officio, a Commissioner of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. He sat as a hearing Commissioner in a number of Federal anti-discrimination cases (the judicial function then resided in the Commission).

Before 1989 he had diverse experience in the law including as a public servant, as a barrister, as a research officer with the Australian Law Reform Commission and as a law teacher at Melbourne University and the University of Illinois. Notably, as division head and deputy secretary of the Victorian Attorney’s Department he managed the Victorian Attorney General’s legislative and policy program between 1983 and 1988, covering all areas of the law under the administration of the Attorney General. During that period he also served part-time as the Secretary to the Standing Committee of Attorneys General.